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Lenovo unveils new IdeaCentre Q190, potential XBMC HTPC

post #1 of 23
11/15/12 at 7:32pm
Thread Starter 
http://www.lenovo.com/products/us/desktop/ideacentre/q-series/q190/

via:
http://www.engadget.com/2012/11/15/lenovo-intros-ideacentre-q190-htpc-new-c-series-all-in-ones/

Lenovo has pulled the covers off what it claims to be the world's smallest full function desktop PC, measuring in at only 22 mm wide. Despite its small stature, the IdeaCentre Q190 has all the multimedia features you need for a quality HTPC machine in the living room according to Lenovo.

The IdeaCentre Q190 has full HD resolution graphics, supports up to 7.1 surround sound, and can be fitted with an optional Blu-ray drive that supports 3D Blu-ray playback. The machine runs Windows 8 Professional and can be purchased with an optional wireless multimedia remote that has a built-in mini backlit keyboard and mouse. That accessory is designed to allow users to control the Q190 from the couch across the room.

The IdeaCentre Q190 will be available in January starting at $349.

Thoughts?..
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post #2 of 23
11/15/12 at 8:39pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kuro9G View Post

Thoughts?..

I own a Mac Mini and appreciate the small form factor however at the same time I think it's way over blown. When I was looking for a WMC computer I started small for ease of placement and believing it would be quieter (by default). I ended up it with a standard tower and it's much quieter than the Lenovo Q I tried a while back. Relative cost was a lot less... and I simply placed it behind my audio/video equipment so it can't be seen or heard. Using the PC as an extender the form factor becomes more important although fan/drive noise would still be more important.
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post #3 of 23
11/15/12 at 9:50pm
I'm looking at buying one of these. I wish they would release how much they cost and all the specs.
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post #4 of 23
11/15/12 at 11:34pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kuro9G View Post

http://www.lenovo.com/products/us/desktop/ideacentre/q-series/q190/


The IdeaCentre Q190 will be available in January starting at $349.
Thoughts?..

Quote:
Originally Posted by watchy View Post

I'm looking at buying one of these. I wish they would release how much they cost and all the specs.
Did ya read the first post?
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post #5 of 23
11/16/12 at 1:34am
I would have been impressed if it was Ivy Bridge and fanless. Unless someone releases Ivy Bridge fanless, I'll have to wait for Haswell in May 2013.
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post #6 of 23
11/16/12 at 10:16am
The full specs and models aren't released. If you goto the page the specs PDF says coming soon.
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post #7 of 23
11/20/12 at 11:04am
Thread Starter 
The full specs have been released, slightly disappointing.

http://www.lenovo.com/products/us/tech-specs/desktop/ideacentre/q-series/q190/

OPERATING SYSTEM
Windows 8 64 bit
Windows 8 Pro 64 bit

PROCESSOR
2nd Generation Intel® Core™ i3-2365M Processor (3M Cache, 1.40 GHz)

Intel® Celeron 887 dual core processor (2M Cache, 1.50 GHz)

VIDEO GRAPHICS
Up to integrated Intel® HD 3000 graphics

MEMORY
Up to 8GB DDR3- 1333 Mhz (Support DualChannel) [SODIMM slots (2GB/4GB/8GB)]

HARD DISK DRIVE
UPTO 1TB HDD storage – [320GB/500GB/1TB(5400rpm)]

OPTICAL DRIVE
Add-on DVD reader/writer or Blu-ray Disc™ drive

SOUND
7.1 Channel surround sound support via HDMI

INTEGRATED COMMUNICATIONS
802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi connectivity
10/100/1000M LAN

CONNECTORS
4xUSB2.0 (rear); 2x USB3.0(front), 6 in 1 Card
Reader ( SD / SDHC / SDXC / MMC / MS / MS_Pro),
Headphone Microphone , HDMI, SDXC(optical)
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post #8 of 23
11/20/12 at 7:05pm
Should be great for a small XBMC machine right?
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post #9 of 23
11/21/12 at 10:20am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kuro9G View Post

The full specs have been released, slightly disappointing.
http://www.lenovo.com/products/us/tech-specs/desktop/ideacentre/q-series/q190/
OPERATING SYSTEM
Windows 8 64 bit
Windows 8 Pro 64 bit
PROCESSOR
2nd Generation Intel® Core™ i3-2365M Processor (3M Cache, 1.40 GHz)
Intel® Celeron 887 dual core processor (2M Cache, 1.50 GHz)
VIDEO GRAPHICS
Up to integrated Intel® HD 3000 graphics
MEMORY
Up to 8GB DDR3- 1333 Mhz (Support DualChannel) [SODIMM slots (2GB/4GB/8GB)]
HARD DISK DRIVE
UPTO 1TB HDD storage – [320GB/500GB/1TB(5400rpm)]
OPTICAL DRIVE
Add-on DVD reader/writer or Blu-ray Disc™ drive
SOUND
7.1 Channel surround sound support via HDMI
INTEGRATED COMMUNICATIONS
802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi connectivity
10/100/1000M LAN
CONNECTORS
4xUSB2.0 (rear); 2x USB3.0(front), 6 in 1 Card
Reader ( SD / SDHC / SDXC / MMC / MS / MS_Pro),
Headphone Microphone , HDMI, SDXC(optical)


I don't see an i3 option in the spec at the link - they must have pulled that back. Or am I missing something?
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post #10 of 23
11/21/12 at 1:32pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Eugen Manecuta View Post

I don't see an i3 option in the spec at the link - they must have pulled that back. Or am I missing something?

Can't find it either. You can purchase the celeron version now it seems but not the i3. Hopefully it does come with an i3 in dec, or jan. I'm going to buy one for XBMC.
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post #11 of 23
11/25/12 at 2:29pm
Better than the Atom, then again, anything is better than the Atom.

Celeron 887 is nothing to write home about, though.

IMHO, too underpowered for this day and age. Then again, it is dirt cheap.
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post #12 of 23
11/25/12 at 4:04pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by durack View Post

Better than the Atom, then again, anything is better than the Atom.
Celeron 887 is nothing to write home about, though.
IMHO, too underpowered for this day and age. Then again, it is dirt cheap.

My Shuttle Ion system works great with XBMC. You aren't building a general computer. The graphics system is probably more important. Heck, even the Pivos XIOS DS under Linux makes for a very good XBMC device. The days of high powered hot, and therefore loud fans, cpu systems are numbered.

philip
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post #13 of 23
11/26/12 at 7:16am
They have them on sale today with it looks to be a $80 or so discount which is rare as its such a new product. $335 for the cheapest. The only diff between the higher model is a 1TB hd which I would replace with an SSD anyways so the cheaper model isnt bad. Personally i'm waiting for the i3 version.
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post #14 of 23
11/26/12 at 9:51am
Thread Starter 
Thanks for the update, yes it appears they have pulled the i3 from the list. I believe the price was $435 for the i3.
Is there a better pre-built small form factor system for an htpc? It was to my understanding that a minimum 2.4Ghz cpu was required for transcoding HD video, is this no longer the case with a decent GPU?
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post #15 of 23
11/26/12 at 10:40am
I hope the i3 is coming. I hope it will ship in Jan or something. I'll be very disappointed if this doesn't ever ship with an i3.and will look to buy something else.
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post #16 of 23
1/2/13 at 8:49pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by pmcd View Post

My Shuttle Ion system works great with XBMC. You aren't building a general computer. The graphics system is probably more important. Heck, even the Pivos XIOS DS under Linux makes for a very good XBMC device. The days of high powered hot, and therefore loud fans, cpu systems are numbered.
philip

I disagree.

With graphics system you are at the mercy of the drivers. Try playing a 1080p Hi-10 MKV on a Shuttle Ion - not going to look good.

An HTPC should have enough horsepower to handle video in software.

Of note, I think this Dell will make a decent HTPC.

http://www.dell.com/us/soho/p/vostro-270s/fs

As far as days of high powered hot systems - sure - once we get a bit more powerful ARM chips and get some reliable Android boxes from relatively reputable manufacturers - give it 2 years.

In fact I wonder if the upcoming Ouya might become the killer HTPC box...

http://www.ouya.tv/
Edited by durack - 1/2/13 at 8:55pm
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post #17 of 23
1/2/13 at 10:03pm
I disagree, an atom or amd can handle duties fine with a $50 nvidia 510 (even mvc)
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post #18 of 23
1/3/13 at 6:28am
The Lenovo idea is dead to me. The i3 coming out is a very low end ultrabook version. I don't think it will even have Intel HD4000 graphics. I went with a Intel NUC. It has a mobile i3 with HD4000 graphics. It plays everything I throw at it in XBMC, It does drop frames on 10bit anime though, but not bad enough to worry. Also Its super small. I'd rather have the Intel box then then Lenovo by far.
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post #19 of 23
3/18/13 at 4:21pm
If some of you decide to sell this mini Windows PC , let me know smile.gif I'm looking for small form PC for local media playing. 10x
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post #20 of 23
3/25/13 at 6:40am
right or wrong, I just pulled the trigger on one of these...for 300 bucks it seems hard to go wrong. I was pricing out parts to build one then came across one of these on sale. if I just wanted xbmc I would have likely built one, but once you add 100 bucks or so to add windows and consider the form factor, it seems like a decent deal. If the Arctic MC001 was in stock I would have bought one of those (can get with a tuner). I will post thoughts once I get some; in the short term, I will add xbmc to the box and compare to my 5 year old core 2 duo tower, which I have been using just to see if an htpc would worth having (it certainly is). Within two months I hope to get a hdhomerun tuner and begin recording content to see if I can, one day, ditch cable - or at least the expensive subscription programming.
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post #21 of 23
3/25/13 at 1:28pm
I finally retired my Ion Shuttle ( which is still a very good XBMC box and no fan ) for an i3 based Intel NUC. Got to say that this is a great system Have XBMC running under win8 and between XBMC's AddOns and the native Netflix ( and Hulu Plus) win8 apps this is really all one needs. Great system and despite the fan it is quiet. Intel also has a less expensive Celeron based NUC which runs XBMC really well. Shuttle now has a passively cooled Celeron net top.

Philip
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post #22 of 23
4/19/13 at 9:54am
If you bought the q190, how is it? I've got two q150s and haven't had any issues. I use solely for streaming Netflix / Hulu (over wired connection) and dvd files off a NAS
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post #23 of 23
4/19/13 at 9:59am
I've got it...no issues thus far! It seems to stream things as well as the other (older) box using xbmc - occasional extended 'buffering' depending on the quality of the video and source. Comcast just yesterday sent me a new modem which may help improve my speeds (allegedly), have not had time to test. I use a wired connection as well.

FYI, while not hidden, it does not come with the windows 8 media center...costs 100 bucks or so to upgrade to 'pro pack'.

Seems to be on sale a bit, got it for about 300 bucks with the celeron processor.
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